The Bodynamic – Somatic Psychology and Analysis System – is a pioneering method of somatic developmental psychology and psychotherapy that integrates current research in the psychomotor development of children, cognitive and depth psychotherapy, brain research, and special emphasis on the quality of contact and on healthy relationship.

Mutual Connection & Dignity

The core belief of the Bodynamic System is that the human being is a social being motivated by a deep drive toward contact and connection with others, without losing pride and dignity, seeking what we term termed Mutual Connection.

Our understanding is that Dignity and Worthiness is built up in an individual through a deep sense of mutuality and compassionate affirmation. When core aspects and emotions of the self are not affirmed or supported in childhood, it leads to the creation of defenses which then become the source of relationship problems later in life.

Resource Building

Using the body as a resource we assist in building new psychological competencies in an individual that were missed during childhood development. Building these new resources often results in a new profound sense of self and being that was difficult to initially imagine.

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Developmental Phases

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Character Structures

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Ego Aspects

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Ego Functions

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Muscles & Fascia mapped for their Psychological Abilities

The human body is integrated into the therapy through precise knowledge of the psychological function of each muscle, based on data obtained from 30 years of systematic studies on child development and the psychotherapy experience of adult clients.

Unique to the Bodynamic System is the focus on building resources as the foundations of inner security. A qualified therapist trained in this comprehensive discipline can determine which age-appropriate resources a client needs to learn, and can then proceed to work with specific movements to activate muscles within a developmental age level. When a person retrieves forgotten inner resources or develops new ones, she or he becomes capable of approaching the deeper layers of her traumatic experiences with success. Building resources and awareness also enables the person to move towards a much broader range of choices in life.

Training

Bodynamic Somatic Developmental Psychology training’s can be found in over eleven countries. Classes can last several days such as in workshop or up to three years such as in the Practitioner. Six different types of training’s are offered:

“Bodynamic Somatic Developmental Psychology is probably the most body-oriented and comprehensive developmental psychology and character structure model there is. Therefore, I highly recommend the Bodynamic foundation level training as a must to all those who are serious about being a body-oriented therapist.”

“I believe that most schools of psychology and therapy have failed to understand fundamental ways humans use to make meaning about themselves in the world. Marcher, Fich, and their Bodynamic colleagues make a stunning step forward in overcoming this error by providing a fundamental developmental framework that helps us to understand the pathways humans move through and how to work effectively with our patients, young and old.”

Training Testimonials

Recent Articles

A man enters a party with many new people. To join in and as an attempt to connect with these unfamiliar people he makes a joke. Everyone stares at him, no one laughs. The joke falls flat because it was loaded with harsh humour and this party was not the best place to share it. At this point, the man probably experiences feeling a sense of shame after seeing the response. He looks awkward and becomes quiet. It is an uncomfortable situation for all.

A central hypothesis in Bodynamic Analysis concerns the time period in which individual muscles come under voluntary control. There is observed to be a critical time period in which they acquire an imprint. This imprint is not simply about physical strength or kinesthetic ability. It concerns the psychological content or issue associated with the activity or function of this muscle. Thus the muscle encodes or "remembers" what happened in the emotional/ psychological environment in the time period in which it came under conscious control.

Because of new research into child development, the developmental perspective has captured the attention of the therapeutic community for the last fifteen years, and it is transforming the way therapy is being carried out. Most schools of body psychotherapy have also been deeply impacted by this shift, but most have had to rely on theories that address primarily psychological development to inform their work. In this interview, I discuss the formation of a truly somatically based theory of human development with its founder, Lisbeth Marcher.